1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process that allows the insertion of rigid segments into a security paper web being formed with predetermined positioning of said rigid segments relative to the resulting documents which will be obtained from said paper web while maintaining certain dimensions (end of segment to edge of document and separation between segments) constant even if document sizes are different.
2. Description of the Related Art
Applicant believes that the closest reference corresponds to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,055,160 and 5,020,581 wherein a process is described to make security paper with rigid segments and the process for manufacturing the hybrid band that houses the rigid segments. As described in said patents, the hybrid band is composed of rigid segments which are covered by a stretchable polyester base that allow it to stretch during the paper's drying process. Said patents document the need to precisely align the rigid segments for subsequent printing and cutting operations.
The precise positioning of rigid segments within the resulting security documents enhance their security or anticounterfeiting characteristics. Precisely fixing the separations between rigid segments, the distance from the end of a rigid segment to the edge of the document and the increments in segment lengths from different members within a family (of differently sized) documents will directly affect the quality of the resulting security paper. In particular, these characteristics will be readily displayed by the resulting documents' electromagnetic characteristics (or signatures) as they would be utilized with these applicants' Method for Identifying Magnetic Characteristics of Magnetic Elements, U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,224 issued on Mar. 24, 1992. None of said patents, nor any other reference in the prior art, suggest the use of a process to precisely position rigid segments to facilitate the reading of their characteristics.
Finally, visual and tactile authentication, as well as electronic, magnetic electro-magnetic or optical detection, are greatly enhanced by having uniform distances from the ends of segments to the edges of the documents. Also, the distances between segments are uniform even if the size of the segment is varied for documents of different sizes.
Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.